1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a contactless, frictionless, magnetic gear system.
2. Background Art
Gears have been used in mechanical devices for centuries. The origin of gears can be traced back to the 27th century BC in China.
Gears and gear systems can be used in many different types of mechanical devices and for many different purposes. Gears are used in vehicle transmissions, wind turbines, elevators, helicopters and the like.
Two round gears of different sizes can alter the speed and direction of rotational force. This includes changing the direction of the rotation or changing the rotational axis from vertical to horizontal and the like. Gears can also be used to change torque.
The biggest problem with gears and gear systems is the loss of energy due to friction caused by the gears mating. Gears and gear systems also experience significant stresses due to their interaction with other gears which may lead to failure of the gears and gear systems. In order to overcome these issues, magnetic gears and gear systems have been created. These gear systems are contactless and frictionless. Therefore, the magnetic gears and gear systems lose less energy and experience less stress than traditional gears and gear systems.
Examples of magnetic gear systems can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,243,555 issued to Faus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,287 issued to Huff, U.S. Pat. No. 7,421,929 issued to French, U.S. Publication No. 2013/02854597, and European Patent Application EP1069671A1. These references all disclose magnetic gear systems in which the magnets are positioned so that one pole is on the outside of the gear. This means that the gear has either an all North or an all South polarity. The other gear in the configuration will either have the same or opposite polarity on the outside of the gear, depending on if the gear system uses attraction or repulsion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,967 issued to Rode describes a magnetic gear system where bar magnets are positioned along the outside of the gear. The first bar magnet is positioned so that its North polarity is at one side of the edge of the gear and the South polarity is at the other side of the edge of the gear. The second bar magnet is then positioned with its polarities on opposite sides of the gear from the first bar magnet. The rest of the bar magnets are also positioned in this alternating pattern.
The magnetic gear systems disclosed in these references and which are currently in use incorporate magnet arrangements which fail to optimize the magnetic fields and potential energy of the magnets.
Accordingly, what is needed is a magnetic gear system that has a magnet arrangement which maximizes the use of the magnetic fields and potential energy of the magnets to aid the transfer of energy through the magnetic gear system.